Joseph alfbed meginn



NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH ALFRED MEGINN, OF LIVERPOOL, OOUN TY OF LANOA STER, ENGLAND.

GRAINING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,440, datedSeptember 2, 1884.

Application filed August 17, 1883.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnrizt ALFRED ME- GINN, of Liverpool, in thecounty of Lancaster, in the Kingdom of England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Graining or Ornamenting Painted orColored Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

Graining by hand requires skilled labor, and is very frequently done inan ugly conventional manner, resembling very remotely the grain ofnatural wood. Many attempts have been made to grain by machinery ortemplet, but hitherto with, I believe, little success. Some have beenbased on the principle of allowing the paint to set, and then eating itoff in parts to a pattern or templet. Others depend on the action of aroller or plate pressed against the Wet surface and licking off orpressing to one side the superfluous material. This involves constantcleaning or. wiping of the roller or plate and the joining up of thevarious areas covered by the plate or passed over by the roller; and thegraining of the ends of the panels, in the case of rollers, where theroller cannot get, owing to its circular contour, re-

- quires skilled labor and neutralizes all advantage gained from the.mechanism. Now, my invention is based on the principle of absorbingthis surplus material, instead of pressing My invention consists informing the pattern in relief on an absorbing-surface of any suitablematerial; but I prefer absorbent paper similar to blotting-paper, butthicker, made, say, twelv e yard lengths. These sheets, having firstbeen cut to size, are laid on the freshly-colored surface pattern sidedownward, and pressure applied to the back by means of a roller or pad.On withdrawing the paper it will be found to have absorbed the wetgraining or other color below the reliefportion of its surface, thus bya single application graining the entire surface of the panel at oneoperation. By using several dif ferent patterns, or even by invertingthe same pattern, considerable variety can be introduced. The papers canbe used several times in immediate succession before their pores becometoo clogged to grain a fresh surface.

Though paper only has been mentioned hith- (Specimens) straw-board, orany other absorbent materialv sufficiently flexible or capable of beingmolded to the required form will do, and the sheets or strips can beeither made entirely of the absorbent material or have a backing ofcloth or other material. It can be embossed in any de sirable manner;but I prefer passing the wet absorbent material between cylindersengraved or indented with the desired pattern, so that the sheets shallnot be hollow on the back; and, if desired, both sides can be embossed,and thus twice the number of applications can be made from one sheetthan can be obtained from onesingle-sidedsheet. Thisdouble-sidedplan isonly applicable, without special precautions, to small or very fullyworked-up patterns destitute of large broad blanks.

I claim as my invention 1. The method of forming grained surfaces, whichconsists in forming sheets of bibulous or absorbent flexible material,embossing the same with the pattern or graining required, so that thepattern shall stand out in relief, cutting these sheets to the size andshape of the surface to be grained, covering the surface to be grainedwith wet paint, color, or varnish, and pressing the said sheets on thesaid even surface, whereby the paint under the embossed parts isabsorbed, leaving a grained pattern, substantially as described.

2. The improvementin the process of manufacturing grained, painted, orcolored surfaces, which consists in forming the pattern in low reliefupon sheets of hi ghly-absorbent flexible material capable of being cutto the size of the surfaces to be grained, substantially as described. I

3. The improvement in the process of making grained surfaces, whichconsists in coating them with the wet paint, color, or varnish, and thenapplying sheets of embossed absorbent material to it with pressure.sufficient to cause the embossed surface to press against the wet paintor othermaterial and absorb most of that portion that comes in contactwith the raised part of the surface of the absorbent material,substantially as described.

4. The improvement in the method of graining surfaces mechanicallywithout unsightly joints,- which consists in cutting out from em-'bossed absorbent paper a piece the same size and shape as the surface tobe grained,-covering the surface with fresh graining color or paint, andthen pressing the piece of absorb- I 5 cut paper against the same, so asto absorb the color or paint beneath the embossed parts. In testimonywhereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presencscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

WM. 1?. THOMPSON, I. OWDEN OBRIEN.

e o'f'two sub- JOSEPH ALFRED MEGINN.

